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Pete McMartin: Welcome aboard? Or not

Port Metro Vancouver’s approval of doubling coal exports from North Vancouver’s Neptune Bulk Terminals shows the port’s lack of community engagement, says environmentalist Kevin Washbrook, who is seeking a seat on the port’s board of directors.

Photograph by: Jason Payne
, Vancouver Sun

On Monday afternoon, Kevin Washbrook, 49, bused down to the Port Metro Vancouver offices and submitted his resume. He wanted a job.

He wants to become a member of the port’s board of directors.

I would put his chances at Slim, if I didn’t believe they were None.

His curriculum vitae isn’t what the port usually looks for in a director. The port favours industry insiders — Washbrook is an environmentalist. He is director of Voters Taking Action on Climate Change, the local volunteer group that has been campaigning against coal port expansion in the port.

“I’m totally serious about this,” Washbrook said. “This is not a stunt. I think it’s a challenge (the port) should rise to, and here’s a chance to change course.”

Washbrook was responding to a notice of two board vacancies that was posted on the port’s website. It read, in part:

“The Nominating Committee is seeking eligible candidates who have generally acknowledged and accepted stature within the transportation industry or the business community and relevant knowledge and extensive experience related to the management of a business, to the operation of a port or to maritime trade.”

Washbrook knows something of management, though not the kind the port is thinking of: He has his master’s in resource environmental management from Simon Fraser University. He studied under noted environmental economist Prof. Mark Jaccard.

Washbrook, however, hasn’t endeared himself to port authorities. He has been a vocal critic of what he says is the port’s “lack of community engagement” and its almost total autonomy from local governments.

That autonomy was most recently demonstrated by the port’s decision to allow the doubling of coal exports from North Vancouver’s Neptune Bulk Terminals. It was allowed despite several surrounding municipalities expressing their concerns about the expansion. VTACC and other environmental groups also pointed out that the environmental assessment of the expansion could hardly be considered fair and unbiased because it was done in-house by port staff.

That kind of paternalism, Washbrook says, has to change. The port must become more accountable to local interests, both economic and environmental.

“I think there is value in bringing a different perspective to the Port Authority board, because an organization with such influence over our future should be about much more than simply facilitating trade in products like coal. The Port Authority needs to be publicly accountable, it needs to better reflect our aspirations as a region, and it needs to help shoulder the responsibilities we’ll be facing in the future.”

The structure of the port’s board reflects its considerable autonomy. Candidates for seven of the board’s 11 directorships must first be nominated for recommendation by port “users” — meaning the directorships are heavily weighted toward business interests. One director is a federal appointee, one is a provincial appointee, one is an appointee from the municipal governments adjacent to the port and one is an appointee representing the Prairie provinces. Thus, a local municipal government has as much representation on the board as does, say, the province of Manitoba.

“The Port Authority board of directors is already over-represented by industrial interests and port users. What it lacks is representation from other sectors of society. The Port Authority needs to be publicly accountable, and it needs to better reflect our aspirations as a region. It has to be about more than just keeping the trains and ships running on time.”

To bolster his bid for a directorship, Washbrook went on social media last Friday and asked members of the public for endorsements he could include in his resume. He had almost 400 by Monday morning, including that of Gordon Price, former Vancouver city councillor and director of SFU’s City Program. Washbrook asked respondents to forward those endorsements along to the federal minister of transport, who has the discretion to appoint anyone to the board.

“You know, I’m hopeful about this,” Washbrook said. “I’m hopeful. I’m not trying to embarrass the port by doing this. I really would like to see some change in the way it deals with the public.

“The nominating committee and the minister of transport may not agree that it is time for change at the Port Authority, but continued public pressure will keep the need for accountability and fairness in their minds.”

Well, something’s been on the port’s mind lately, stung as it was by the very public outcry over coal expansion. The following, written by reporter Jenny Wagler, appeared in last week’s Business in Vancouver:

“Weeks after okaying a controversial coal-handling expansion at Neptune Terminals, Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) is seeking help from a public relations agency.

“PMV yesterday posted a request for proposals (RFP) on its website, seeking an integrated communications and advertising agency ‘to develop and implement a communications program that will increase awareness and understanding of the port and its role in facilitating Canada’s trade, primarily among residents of its bordering communities in the Lower Mainland.’”

Port Metro Vancouver’s approval of doubling coal exports from North Vancouver’s Neptune Bulk Terminals shows the port’s lack of community engagement, says environmentalist Kevin Washbrook, who is seeking a seat on the port’s board of directors.

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